The book is entirely made up out of snippets of thoughts and observations from the 3 main characters. The tension slowly builds when you notice that there are 2 unstable women in this story. There are also memories from an (at first) unnamed person about violent domestic abuse during his/her childhood. Those elements combined, create an atmosphere of a certain doom hanging over the group. What it is that’s building up, do you find out only when the crime really happens.
At the start of the story, Emma and her boyfriend of 4 months observe how the new neighbours Jade and Tomas move in next door. They get acquainted very quickly, but despite liking the husband, Jade is strange and unsympathetic. Between themselves, they call her ‘clusterfuck’. On top of that, she grows an obsession that Tomas is having an affair with Emma who’s a dentist that treats him for a root canal infection. Her paranoia drives her to kill Tomas and frame Emma for the murder, using her intimate knowledge of forensics to plant evidence and stage the crime scene.
Can Alastair (also working in forensics) prove that his girlfriend is innocent and is being framed by the murderous wife? He’s got other problems as well. His ex-wife demands more money and acts jealous, despite being the one who left him and her son. She threatens him with hell-fire and even contacts Emma to slander his name.
If you think this is bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet! The story becomes more and more twisted. Nobody is exactly who or what he /she appears to be on first sight and everybody seems to have a hidden agenda. Despite its slow start with its multiple points of view on the same event, keep reading past those initial introductions of the characters. This story really builds up the tension to the level that you can’t put the book down and you simply have to know what happens next. Another night of missed sleep!
You can consider this story a humoristic warning against tinder-dating, as nothing good or lasting seems to come from it.
The main criticism about this book were multiple and severe formatting and editing problems in the Mobi file (for Kindle), that are absent in pdf format. I trust that those will be repaired in the final commercial version.
I’m grateful to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for their free ARC copy; this is my honest, unbiased review of it.

I am really struggling to write this review.
I really struggled with this book. I usually don’t mind books that are told from different characters points of view but this one for some reason confused me. It took me a while to figure out who was who and who was married to, dating, divorced, living next to who and as a result I couldn’t get in to it. When I did eventually figure out the relationships and the dynamics I didn’t care about them so it made the rest of the book hard going. Had I not been gifted this book by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for a review I know I would have given up on this book and stopped reading it.
I thought the twists and turns were predictable and the characters unlikeable. I really tried to like the
Is book as I loved the sound of the synopsis but it just didn’t do it for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Nretgalley and the Publisher . This is a story about 2 woman and one who thinks her other half is not playing fair. It had me hooked until the end. Great read

This book caught me off guard like seriously. I didn't know what to think, but I enjoyed this thriller. It was my first book by the author and I don't regret it.Although I initially got confused with how it started, it was a refreshing read that could take your whole afternoon. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

I wish I could say I loved this book but I definitely did not. I didn’t like the writing style and it was hard to keep up with who was saying what. The storyline was ok but some of it didn’t make sense. Why would Tomas continue to see Emma, especially going to her house, knowing his wife has major issues and could be dangerous? The memories portion didn’t really fit in and didn’t make sense to me.

I have mixed emotions about this book, and I'm a bit torn about how to rate it, as it was a compelling and interesting enough read, but it still fell a bit flat for me overall. I also wasn't a big fan of the writing style, and the story just didn't wow me.

The plot line was nothing new in the thriller genre, and didn't stick out amongst all of the others like it in this particular sea. I also felt that certain parts of the book could have been removed, as it seemed that some of the details were a bit unnecessary and made the story more lengthy than it should have been.

The beginning of the story was what I had the most trouble with, as I found it hard to get into initially, probably due to my dislike of the writing style. The story does pick up though, and despite the things I didn't like about this book, there were some good twists thrown into the story, and it was intriguing enough to still make for a fun and addictive read.

The story is told from multiple POV's, and each chapter was short and snappy, making it easy to fly through the pages.

Another problem I had with this book was that I found the ending to be a bit lackluster, and disappointing.

Overall, this unfortunately just wasn't the thriller for me.

This is a truly sick book. Which, of course, I mean as a compliment. This book was so unputdownable I missed my shower and was late for work, which is fortunately more acceptable in a quarantine.

This book is about two neighbor women, at least one of whom may be sick in the head. Jade believes her neighbor Emma is having an affair with Jade’s husband. Jade has a history of paranoia. But she can’t be dissuaded. So she hatches and executes a plan to make her husband sorry. And that’s just the first third of the book! There are about five twists after that, and each one is crazier than the next.

It’s true that this book is super wild and not very realistic. But it works. It’s totally thrilling, well plotted and every page is fun to read.

The one downside for me is that two of the four alternating narrators are written in the second person. (Eg: “I watch you walk across the room. You put down the wine glass.”) With two narrators and two “Yous” it is confusing at first to work out who is being talked about. But after awhile as you get used to the different narrators’ voices, you get used to it.

If you’re looking for a great and accurate police procedural this is probably not the right book for you. It is definitely incredible at times. But if you’re looking for an unputdownable, twisty, fun thriller? You found it. I put two more of this author’s books on my TBR shelf already. I really enjoy her writing style.

Thanks to Avon HarperCollins UK, NetGalley and Amanda Robson for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have read previous books by Robson and I was really looking forward to reading this. I found the book ok. The storyline went from credible to ridiculous. I loved the start of the book but felt the plot went way off & the story became really far fetched. The chapters were had to follow sometimes and I felt that the book could have been much better.

This is a fabulous page turner that’s full of twists and turns. I kept thinking I had worked out what the ending would be and then something else happened.
I’ve loved Amanda Robson’s other books and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.

I apologize. I’ve never given only 2 stars before but I just didn’t like it. The lack of chapters, the constant throwbacks to the past. The psychological thriller genre I usually read generally has alternate narrators or protagonists but not like this. At times it switched without any notification of whom you were reading about. The author was clearly very knowledgeable about forensics and the story was relatively interesting but I simply didn’t care for the format. One of my favorite authors, B A Paris reviewed this book so highly that it truly blows my mind how little I liked it. But to each their own. It just wasn’t for me🤷🏼‍♀️.

The story is innovating but trying to determine which character the speaker is addressing was so confusing. His totally took away from the plot. As the book progressed, the language was more explicit and that also took away from the story. In the reader can get past these two elements, there is a basically intriguing story.

I have mixed emotions about this book. Bits I loved and bits I wasn’t too sure about. I love how the author writes small interesting chapters and how you move from character to character with each chapter. It was a good storyline but I felt something was missing.

I was privileged to receive an advance review copy of 'My Darling' by Amanda Robson in exchange for an honest review.
I have been a fan of Amanda Robson since her debut book, and she just gets better and better. 'My Darling' is one mighty powerful story where murder happens when you least expect it. The murder plot is so clever and forensically watertight, that have even Colombo would be more likely to iron his raincoat, that solve it.
Jade and Tomas move in next door to Emma, who lives alone but is in a relationship with Alastair.
It soon becomes apparent that Jade is pathologically jealous of her husband Tomas and any woman he comes into contact with. This is the start of a serious mudslide into the life of poor Emma.

My Darling by Amanda Robson

Synopsis
I watched you move in and thought we might be friends.
I saw you watching from the window – and knew I’d have to keep you away from my husband.
I started to trust you. Confide in you.
I started to mistrust you. Suspect you.
I was confused when I blacked out after an evening at your place. Was I really that drunk?
I came up with a plan. A plan to make you both pay...

Review
Fast paced, abit ridiculous and far fetched are my initial thoughts. Some people will hate it, I couldn’t put it down and I do enjoy the writing style. I never got bored, it was pretty good.

Rated 4/5

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I couldn’t get into this book. Too many narrator switches making it hard to follow. I just couldn’t connect with this book.

What a wild thrill ride!! This is a fantastic novel, loved it from page 1 and didn’t come up for air till the end! What a well written, fast paced book!

I just could not get into this book. The narrator switches often and it is hard to follow. There are quite a few times that the p.o.v. would switch without saying which character was now narrating. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and there is no character growth.

Amanda Robson, my darling, I have to wonder what goes on in that pretty little head of yours... 😨 YIKES!

Seriously. This lady loves creating the most vile of characters so obviously she is a favorite author of mine.

This is a book where the less said is better. You have two couples, a love triangle of sorts, delusions, paranoia, secrets, lies, and murder. What more could a lady like myself ask for? This isn't a book where twists are being thrown at you but Robson always manages to keep you off balance so you are never really sure what is happening which is something I always appreciate.

I did think the ending was a little lackluster but getting there was a damn good time. Multiple POV's and short snappy chapters make this one easy to breeze through. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I want to thank NetGalley, Avon Books UK, and author Amanda Robson for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

WOW! What a wild ride! This story gave me legit whiplash, but I am oddly okay with that. You never know what is happening behind closed doors, and this title highlights that to a T. This narration was well researched and the characters were superbly developed. I was on the edge of my seat and a bit claustrophobic throughout. This will drill into your head, and you’ll be thinking about where the story is going to take you next. An absolutely unpredictable thriller that I couldn’t put down.

Thank you to those named above for the chance to read and review this novel!

I have mixed emotions with this book. I stopped working to finish it as it got me so hooked up, it’s constantly on my mind. Main characters are Emma, Alistair, Tomas and Jade. These people are so crazy. I don’t know if this book is a reunion of psychotic people. I am so dazed. I just think there are some parts that can be removed from the book because of unnecessary details or perhaps just making it lengthy. Emma, on the other hand, is what? A bit stupid, trustworthy, vulnerable or just a woman who wants a man who’ll love and respect her, but she always finds herself being drawn to men who has attitudes she abhors.

Is she secretly engrossed to these kinds of people or just unfortunate or lacks the capability to discern people’s behaviour? I am not satisfied with the ending, albeit, it’s okay, not bad. But not convincing, or police in that “country” are just so stupid to fool. Hehe. Nonetheless, it was a good read, Somehow, it makes me remember the plot, the characters and I don’t mind reading another book from Amanda Robson. Thank you, NetGalley and Avon publishers UK from letting me read this book for free! :) You rock!